


Solidarity

by nicthetoony359



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Ghost
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Gay Taiga, Gen, Hiiro is there and Makoto is mentioned, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Lesbian Nico, but only mentioned in one line so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 01:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18377966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicthetoony359/pseuds/nicthetoony359
Summary: Taiga wonders who that nice girl Nico hangs out with is





	Solidarity

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote Taiga a lot more chill than he is for most of the series but I'm not entirely sure if it's OOC?  
> This is teen because I put one f bomb in there and I'm not sure if that counts

Taiga wondered who that nice girl Nico hung out with was.

She’d show up sometimes, at the end of Nico’s shift, with a gentle smile and some sort of treat for her and Nico to share. He’d simply watch as they chatted and laughed, too weary from a day of work to ask either of them on the girl’s identity. It was nice though, seeing Nico so amiable (dare he say it, friendly) with someone her age. He had never seen her so happy, so relaxed than when she and the girl would talk to eachother, than when she’d visit her and whisk her off to some arcade or wherever it is Nico hung out nowadays.

He asked her one day who that girl was and the defensive way she answered was weirdly out of character. She stuttered and stammered while very unconvincingly telling him that she was her friend and that her name was ‘Kanon’.

Taiga had simply brushed it off at the time, but in the back of his mind he knew something was going on.

He didn’t pursue that line of questioning though, whatever was going on in her life was her business.

Kanon returned to their clinic later that week, greeting Nico with that same smile that she always did. Taiga snuck occasional glances at the girls from the other side of the room, noticing things he hadn’t before. He noticed the easy smirk on Nico’s face, the bashful body language Kanon had, their hands nearing eachother yet never touching.

There was a moment Kanon noticed him watching, sending a surge of irrational panic in Taiga’s mind, before giving a polite wave at him and a pleasant“Doctor Hanaya.”

Nico looked between the two with an almost fearful look, something Taiga noticed out of the corner of his eye. “Hi.” Taiga said in response. Kanon nodded at him and Nico smiled for a moment before whispering something in Kanon’s ear.

“Alright. Let’s go!” Kanon replied to whatever it is Nico had whispered into her ear. They walked out of the room, side by side, but not before Nico gave Taiga a quick “Bye, Taiga.”

“See you tomorrow.” Taiga responded, opening up a new document on his computer. He looked back at them a moment later as they walked out, their hands entertwined.

Later that night, while on one of his semi regular face cam sessions with Hiiro, he let slip his suspicions.

“I think Nico has a girlfriend.” He said after a somewhat awkward stretch of silence. Hiiro paused, looking away from the notes he was going over. Another long silence follows his little announcement, Hiiro not knowing how to respond. “..I see..”

Taiga doesn’t follow up on the statement, like Hiiro had hoped, leaving him to awkwardly continue the conversation. “Is she.. nice?” He asked and Taiga snickered. “Painfully.” Hiiro let out a “huh” at that, looking at his notes without really reading them. “Do you know for sure?”

“No” Taiga admitted.“I wouldn’t be surprised though.”

“..Would you be okay with them dating? Their both..”

Taiga shrugged. “Not my place to judge. If their happy, then that’s all I really care about.” Besides, Taiga wasn’t exactly that much different in that sense..

The smallest of smiles came over Hiiro. “I don’t think we have anymore to talk about tonight. I’ve given you all my notes.” Taiga moved his cursor over the disconnect button. “Bye then.”

“Bye.”

Later next week, Kanon didn’t come at the end of the days, and Taiga could feel the shift in tone without her there. A few of the patients had grown familiar with Kanon and had asked the occasional question on where she was. Nico had also seemed less energized day by day, looking disappointed and trying to hide it whenever she saw Taiga.

“Kanon hasn’t been here lately.” Taiga asked during a slow Wednesday, with no patients, just him and Nico. He was shifting through some papers of their clients.

Nico flinched from her bored gaze, focused on a game she wasn’t really playing. “Her brother’s sick. She’s been busy taking care of his stupid ass.”

Taiga snickered at the pettiness in her voice. “Is it game disease?” He asked, half joking but his perpetually serious voice made it sound somewhat serious. Nico rolled her eyes and continued playing her game.

“I wish. Then I would have an excuse to see her..” She mumbled the last few words, as if catching herself mid-thought while her mouth still moved. Taiga raised an eyebrow. “Why would you need an excuse to see her? You seem to be close.” He said, wanting to see what reaction he would get out of her.

Nico paused for a second, not her game, that just kept going despite the momentary lull in any button pushing. She composed herself soon enough. “I mean, yeah sure I guess we are.. close.” The faintest smile crosses her expression at the thought and Taiga smirks. “But, like. I don’t wanna bother or anything.”

“You like her a lot, don’t you?” Taiga says, now completely ignoring his own work in favor of turning his full attention to Nico. The girl seems to freeze up for a moment at his words but she manages an awkward nod. “Yeah. I mean, sure I guess. Whatever.” Taiga just nods along, though inwardly he’s amused at how much Nico stammers and fidgets in her seat. “You sure are asking about Kanon a lot.” She added on to try and distract the focus from herself.

Taiga shrugged. “I’m just curious. I don’t see you hanging out with too many people your age. I’m glad you’ve made a friend.”

Nico looked at him, pausing her game this time. Her expression is unreadable at first but eventually it settled on a smile, a slightly confused one but it was genuine. “Uh.. yeah. Thanks Da- Taiga.” The slip up catches them both off-guard but neither comment on it. Before Taiga can get a word in, Nico was already back to her game and Taiga thinks it’s not worth it to try and pry further so he goes back to his work.

Taiga didn’t know what exactly went on with Nico and her parents, he knew she didn’t hold them in any high regard, but the why and how of it she didn’t seem comfortable sharing. Taiga didn’t mind too much, it was definitely a sensitive subject and he wasn’t going to make her feel uncomfortable with too personal questions.

They went about their business in semi-comfortable silence, save for the game noises that went on as Nico completed stage after stage. But both of them felt the growing tension in the room as they held in things unsaid, questions and confessions they wanted to get out. Nico felt her lungs tighten ever so slightly as the game went on and she found it harder to focus on the game as time went on.

It’d be fine, right? Taiga would get it, right?

He wasn’t like her dad. Her biological one. He wouldn’t..

“Taiga?” Nico said after saving and closing her game. Taiga looked up from his papers and turned back to face her. “Yes?”

Nico steeled her nerves. It’d be fine, Taiga was- Okay he was an older guy but he wasn’t like _super_ old so he probably wouldn’t be that closed minded. Right?

Right?

“Nico, is everything okay?” Taiga asked, worry creeping into his voice. Nico’s mind went back to reality, she must’ve zoned out a little. She took a deep breath and sighed. Fuck it, what was there to lose?

(Oh you know, your best friend, your employer, your doctor, your father fi-)

“Taiga” Nico started, uncharacteristically quiet, careful almost. Taiga was intently listening now. “So, uh, Kanon and I _are_ pretty close but we’re not uh.. we’re not really close in the friend kinda way. You see me and her we’re kind of- Uh, we’re kinda-”

Taiga nodded. “You’re dating?”

Nico froze, giving Taiga an icredulous look as realization dawned on her. “Wait, you _knew_!?”

“Well, not really.” Taiga said, trying to suppress a chuckle. “But I took a guess. Like you said, you two do seem close, and you’re a lot more affectionate with her than I’ve seen you with other people.” He said, as matter-of-factly as he could. “You two weren’t that subtle.”

Her mind struggled to formulate a response out of the surprise, embarrasment and.. relief that she felt. Taiga looked at her expectantly and Nico sighed, her shoulders releasing tension she didn’t realize she had. “So.. you’re cool with that? With me being gay and everything?” She asked, both cautious and hopeful.

Taiga gave her a warm smile (something Nico was not expecting to see that day) and nodded. “Yeah, I am. As long as you’re happy, then that’s what matters.” He said, trying to sound as comforting as he could. It sounded weird on him but Nico appreciated the effort. “..Thanks, Taiga.”

He nodded. “No problem.” Nico gave him a wide smile and the sight warmed Taiga’s heart. “Kanon seems like a nice girl, I’m happy you got someone like her.” She nodded, leaning against a nearby wall. “Yeah, she’s kinda the best.” The girl said with a mixture of pride and affection.

Before anything else could be said, the sound of Nico’s ringtone filled the room and she hastily pulled out her phone. “Oh, whaddya know?”

Taiga raised an eyebrow. “Is that Kanon?” Nico nodded. “Yeah, give me a minute okay?” She said before walking out of the room and into the hallway, away from where Taiga could hear their conversation. The doctor kept his eyes on her as she left, smiling to himself.

“Hope it works out, kid.”

 

“Hey, Nico.” Kanon’s voice came from the other end of the call, causing a small smile to cross Nico’s expression. “Hey babe, what’s up?” She answered, one hand in her pocket.

“Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to check in. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Nico shook her head, despite knowing Kanon couldn’t see her. “Nah. It’s been a pretty quiet day so far. How’s your brother?”

“He’s doing much better, actually. I think it’s just the stress honestly.”

“That’s good.” Nico said in response. “How about you? You’ve been doing okay?”

“I’ve been good. I miss you, though.” Kanon’s voice turned bashful near the end and Nico was pretty sure her heart skipped a beat.

“Then how about you come over to my place later? I don’t have anyone else there tonight, so it’ll be just us.” Nico said, her chest tightening a little as she did.

Kanon hummed pleasantly to herself. “I’ll have to ask my brother but.. I’d be happy to.”

“Good.” Nico smiled. “I got a lot to tell you.”


End file.
